Monday, November 14, 2016

My friend Esther invited me around her pad for a painting session, and I got cranking on my Reaper Bones haul from PAXaus whilst she tortured me by playing Ouran High School Host's Club. Just... don't ask, you don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

My goal was to knock out table quality minis for an upcoming Pathfinder game so my elf rogue Ehzarelle took priority. A few figures came along for the ride.

For me, table ready means 'looks okay from three feet'- which lends itself to exaggeration and bright, crisp edging and bold colors.

I painted Ehzarelle's skin tone more Drowish because in my mind elves are fae creatures and can be weird colors. The gnarled tree on her base is naught but twisted tissue paper set with superglue and a little scatter. Great for roots and fallen tree details. The stale water on her base will be given a coat of modge podge to make it really glossy.

The dwarf and guard are also first pass. They, along with the lizard man where all free 'paint and take' minis. Woot for the loot!

When doing table ready, focus on 'good enough' rather than obsessing. Hold the model at arms length every few minutes to check your work.

For quick game ready models I suggest painting all the flat colors before shading- it means you can hit the model with brown washes that work on belts, metal, padding, skin, fabric and so forth in one go. A few black washes in eye sockets, armor and around joints can help. If you are shit at picking out edges- go the other way, start painting the part the highlight color then shade down the middle of the parts- leaving the edges bare. Far easier.

That's it from me tonight folks. I have a lot of minis to catch up on. Should be a productive few weeks.